by J.K. Levine All my friends want chickens. They ask: have you heard about the bird flu? A hundred million chickens infected. They cull the sick. That’s why the price of eggs is so high. And they appeal to reason: a chicken would pay for itself in this economy, and if we sold the eggs,Continue reading “Cage Free”
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Home Sweet Home
by ghostlymatte Digital Ghostlymatte is a freelance illustrator who enjoys playing with shapes and textures. While chickens are not the main focus of his art, chickens have been a constant fascination for him ever since he first laid his eyes on them at age 8.
Kozhi
by Angel Kolady Yesterday, I turned vegetarian;I looked at the sky,At the clouds of my pastWhite feathers, a beak.What is that?You asked me.I don’t know,I said.Your eyes up there, squinting,Why are you lying?Four years old, andAlready looking for answersFrom things that only produce questions.Bak, bak, bak.So, what choice do I have anyway? Angel is aContinue reading “Kozhi”
Murgi’s hymn for the weekend
by Ruchi Acharya Courage isn’t in counting chicksbefore their fragile shells collapse—it’s in feeding them hopewhen they’re trembling in your hands.Have you asked yourself this in a while? Hope is a mother hen;even in storms she spreads her wings,a shelter stitched of feathers.Will you do the same for me? In fear, the bravest scatter,like startledContinue reading “Murgi’s hymn for the weekend”
Mother
by Pemily Maybe I’m just romanticisingThe motherhood of it allBut wouldn’t it be just a dreamTo be nestled by her, to be heldTo hear her purring in pure joyWhile I curl up for the fall She is broody almost all the timeIt’s her purpose and greatest giftThe gift of loving each in her nestAnd notContinue reading “Mother”
Compliment Clouds
by Raymond Brunell Old Bess wasn’t any hen. Her speckled feathers carried the dust of a hundred seasons, and her comb was forever dull and dusty. But her eggs—well, those had changed. Last Tuesday, she laid one glowing like dandelion wine, and when it cracked, no chick appeared. Instead, a tiny, perfect cloud rose, noContinue reading “Compliment Clouds”
Spring in Iowa
by John Grey It’s springand its defiant colors,from the barn roofto the sods of earth.Fog spills into rain.Cattle chew the newness.Bored horses almostkick their door down.Dog rounds up chickensinto someplace dry.It’s time to churn the soil, to seed.The world rolled over into sleep.But now it’s awakening,rubbing its eyesuntil the sun breaks through.Cooped up so long,theContinue reading “Spring in Iowa”
Like Dancers
by Ashley C Knowlton they stretch like dancersthe ducks and chickensstretching one side at a timeright then left orleft then rightsteadily reaching their leg back withballerina toes pointed,Their wing gracefully fans out and backallowing their feathers to greet their feet—about the only time they appear delicate Ashley C Knowlton’s poetry has been published in aContinue reading “Like Dancers”
This Little Chick of Mine
by Nyla Singleton This little egg, oh, how I wish it were mine. This coop I’ve learned to call home is nothing short of lively. Mother hens stake their claim, flaunting their perfectly born chicks. The cluck of their excitement, the erratic flap of their wings, the unbearable sparkle in their beady eyes—I feel nothingContinue reading “This Little Chick of Mine”
Emotional Support
by Valarie Hunter Emylia had Claudesince she was a toddler,when her tiny hand fit perfectlyaround his fuzzy neck.Her older sister preferred dolls,but Emylia had her stuffed chicken,brown, bug-eyed, his wingsso comforting to rub and twizzlethat they developed bald patches,his red felt comb and wattleso enjoyable to suck ondespite Mom scolding herfor being disgusting. Claude wentContinue reading “Emotional Support”